IN purely simplistic terms, Sunderland’s 2021 was a failure. The club started the year in League One and finished it in the same division. Given the size, stature and spending power of the Black Cats, that should never be deemed an acceptable state of affairs.

Yet as the calendar turns to 2022, Wearside’s footballing fraternity can still look back on the last 12 months with a high degree of satisfaction and a justified belief that better times lies ahead. There was the completion of an eagerly-awaited takeover and the appointment of some highly-regarded senior figures in key positions. There was the joy of a Wembley triumph, albeit behind-closed-doors. And in just the last month or so, there has been a lengthy unbeaten run that has carried Sunderland to the top of the table.

Life in League One is never going to be great, but for arguably the first time since the club’s demotion to the third tier, it feels as though the Black Cats are on the right track.

The key development that helped take them there actually came at the end of 2020, with Kyril Louis-Dreyfus announcing he had agreed a deal to replace Stewart Donald as Sunderland’s majority shareholder.

It took a while for the paperwork to be rubber-stamped, but in the middle of February, the EFL confirmed Louis-Dreyfus had completed his purchase of the club. Much of the restructuring work had already been completed by then, with Kristjaan Speakman having arrived as sporting director and Lee Johnson having been appointed as head coach.

There have been further off-field appointments throughout the year though, with Louis-Dreyfus delivering on his promise to conduct a root-and-branch overhaul of the creaking club he inherited. James Young arrived as Sunderland’s first head of data and analysis in March, and Stuart Harvey was installed as the new head of player recruitment a month later.

Lewis Dickman was appointed as Sunderland’s new academy manager, and while the departure of former academy coach Elliott Dickman to join Newcastle in October was a blow, the desire to maintain and nurture a category one academy set-up despite the exorbitant costs remains intact.

The pledge to ‘do recruitment differently’ was honoured during the summer transfer window in particular, when Sunderland’s business took them down a radically different course to the one that had been plotted by Donald and both Jack Ross and Phil Parkinson.

Rather than simply throwing money at players who were supposed to be ‘the best on offer in League One’ – Will Grigg anybody – the Black Cats’ recruitment team adopted a more data-driven, analytical approach.

Johnson made no secret of his desire to bring down the average age of the squad, so Sunderland focused their attention on emerging youngsters with a point to prove. Some, like Dennis Cirkin and Niall Huggins, arrived on permanent deals. Others, like Thorben Hoffmann, Leon Dajaku, Callum Doyle and Nathan Broadhead, were signed on loan. The season is still only halfway through, but the evidence so far suggests the switch in approach has worked. Sunderland have assembled a squad that suits the way Johnson wants to play. When the recruitment operation was much more haphazard in the past, that wasn’t always a given.

It hasn’t all been sweetness and light for the new regime, and as the year progressed, so murmurings began to increase about the opaque ownership structure and the continued involvement of Donald, Charlie Methven and Juan Sartori, who many fans view as being tainted by the failings of the past.

It was always clear that the trio of former owners were going to continue to hold shares, but the value of those shares, and the power that shareholding means they are able to wield, remains uncertain. For all that most supporters continue to trust Louis-Dreyfus, the lack of clarity is unhelpful. At some stage in 2022, it would be nice to think that everything was spelled out.

On the pitch, the year began in thoroughly underwhelming fashion with a goalless draw at Northampton, and with Sunderland in 11th position at that stage, the goal for the second half of last season was to make the play-offs.

That was achieved, largely thanks to the goalscoring efforts of Charlie Wyke, whose 26 goals for the season meant he finished the campaign as League One’s second-highest scorer behind Peterborough’s Jonson Clarke-Harris. For all that his subsequent departure to Wigan Athletic left a sore taste in the mouth, Wyke’s exploits last term should not be forgotten.

Sunderland were in good form for most of the spring, but April defeats to Charlton and Blackpool suggested they were stalling as the play-offs approached, and the end-of-season shootout turned out to be something of a damp squib. A 2-0 defeat at Lincoln’s Sincil Bank left the Black Cats squarely behind the eight ball, and while first-half goals from Ross Stewart and Wyke at the Stadium of Light raised hope, Sunderland ultimately lost 3-2 on aggregate.

There had been the joy of a Wembley win to ease at least some of the disappointment, although it is surely ‘classic Sunderland’ that the club’s first success at the home of English football since 1973 came on one of the few occasions when supporters were not allowed in to watch.

March’s Papa John’s Trophy triumph was a somewhat surreal success, with Lynden Gooch slotting home his winner in front of cavernous empty stands. Back home on Wearside, supporters celebrated in their front rooms. Silverware then, but not a moment that will live particularly long in the memory.

Johnson vowed to overhaul his team in the wake of missing out on promotion, and the publication of Sunderland’s retained list, with the likes of Max Power, Chris Maguire, Josh Scowen and Grant Leadbitter all leaving, immediately proved he was going to be as good as his word.

A host of new youngsters arrived – along with a couple of older heads in Corry Evans and Alex Pritchard that have proved to be astute signings – and, significantly, Johnson also created space within his squad for homegrown midfielders Dan Neil and Elliot Embleton to flourish. Previous Sunderland managers have talked about the need to promote from within – Johnson has actually done it.

Neil’s emergence has been the feelgood story of the year, with the South Shields-born 20-year-old having been a Sunderland season-ticket holder as a child. His joy at scoring his first senior goal against Accrington Stanley will live long in the memory, while his maiden call-up to the England Under-20 squad underlined his burgeoning potential. It goes without saying that Sunderland must do all they can to hold on to him.

That Accrington win left Sunderland at the top of the table for the first time since slipping into League One, but it wasn’t always plain sailing through the autumn, with heavy defeats to Portsmouth and Rotherham in particular raising questions about the ability of Johnson’s young squad to cope with the physical demands of the third tier.

Injuries mounted during November and December, but with Stewart leading the way in attack and Johnson’s tactical tweaks helping shore up the defence, Sunderland embarked on an eight-game league unbeaten run that culminated in Thursday’s five-goal thrashing of Sheffield Wednesday which lifted them back to the top of the table.

The challenge in the first half of 2022 will be to remain at the top of the pile. It will not be easy, and reinforcements in January are surely needed. Thanks to the work that has been conducted in 2021, though, Sunderland are ideally positioned to kick on.